Original title: foreign scholars: China's innovation speed is far faster than expected, not cheap Shanzhai
According to Forbes magazine, in the emerging technology industry, many Chinese executives are dissatisfied with the claim that China lacks innovation. Many innovative Chinese do not need to look for the international market, because China itself has a lot of room for growth. Michael C. wenderoth, one of the world's top business schools, Professor of IE business school and senior consultant of market strategy consulting company, recently wrote in Forbes magazine, marveling that China's innovation speed is far faster than expected.
Here is a summary of wenderrose's article
Last year, when I talked with many Chinese executives about their experiences in Silicon Valley, their consensus was disappointed. One executive said: 'frankly, I don't know what Silicon Valley can boast about. "Silicon Valley has been hailed as an innovation center all over the world, but many Chinese tourists, especially those from China's growing technology industry, are not impressed.
Conversely, many Westerners still insist that Chinese products are cheap, low-quality copies. Although this view may represent part of the current situation of the Chinese market, with the increasing number of world-class enterprises from China, their scale and ranking of the most important innovation areas are on the rise. In the emerging technology industry, many Chinese executives scoff at the claim that China lacks innovation. They feel increasingly confident that they can compete with engineers in Silicon Valley, Israel or other innovation centers.
For example:
&Huawei is a global leader in the field of network equipment, and also the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. It has unparalleled technological breadth, and has perfected its model in China and developing countries. At present, it is occupying a dominant position in many Western markets.
&A few years ago, Xiaomi swept the smartphone industry and became one of the top ten smartphone manufacturers in the world, launching a high-quality and low-cost mobile phone design. Xiaomi has adopted an innovative marketing method, that is, only selling products online, and constantly and rapidly launching new models. Xiaomi's operational efficiency is second to none.
&Alibaba is the world's largest e-commerce company (the company joked that it shouldn't be compared to Amazon because it's much bigger), which has revolutionized the way small businesses sell and created one of the most advanced and profitable retail network ecosystems in the world. No wonder their sales on November 11 (China's Singles Day) exceeded the sum of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
&Tencent's wechat application is probably the most influential news application in the world, with 960 million users. It not only surpasses Facebook as the fifth most valuable company in the world, but also has become the case study object of mobile game and internal purchase mode revenue.
&Middot; DJI is the world's largest UAV manufacturer, while Haier and Midea are both top manufacturers of 'white goods' and electronic products, and they are winners in high-end and low-end markets. All companies are rapidly improving their position through robotics and Internet applications. Midea acquired KUKA, Germany's leading robot manufacturer.
These companies have achieved great success through world-class management system integration and full adaptation to the domestic market. And cities like Shenzhen have become the 'software center' of the Internet of things and other industries because they have built an efficient and cost-effective hardware manufacturing system.
Western countries often complain that the Chinese government protects its industry by adopting protectionist policies, providing convenient capital channels and ignoring intellectual property protection. In some areas, this makes sense, but it ignores the fact that almost all of the companies mentioned above meet world-class standards.
In areas such as e-commerce and the Internet, China has successfully created such a huge and attractive ecosystem, which promotes innovation. Many innovative Chinese do not need to look for the international market, because China itself has a lot of room for growth.
Taking didi as an example, this taxi software has become popular in China. Many people accuse didi travel of copying Uber's model, but the simple fact is that it has surpassed Uber in China in terms of marketing, speed and market. The company continues to introduce innovations, such as sending a valet driver when you're drunk, and SOS features to improve safety.
This is the 'ubiquitous' myth created by the online car Hailing giant. China is increasingly seen by western car manufacturers as a laboratory for future transportation, including the bike sharing industry led by ofo and Moby. With the increase of capital and demand, both are growing rapidly.
China's growing dominance in artificial intelligence, machine learning and algorithms is reflected in the success of companies like fluent. Fluency is an English learning application, which can evaluate your oral English level. In China alone, there are about 50 million users. It meets people's needs and enables eager Chinese to learn English without native language environment. Fluency also reflects the trend that Chinese entrepreneurs are leaving Silicon Valley and now see more opportunities in China.
To meet the more basic needs is "three squirrels". It is one of the fastest growing snack companies in China and a typical representative of more and more packaging and consumer goods companies. They are able to launch new products in the accelerated cycle, which is unheard of in the West. All of these and the logistics sector can provide almost all of the demand, which means that China has the conditions for continuous innovation.
In fact, as one Chinese entrepreneur recently told me, Darwinian competition means that Chinese enterprises have no choice but to speed up innovation. How about these bike sharing companies? A few months later, dozens of start-ups entered the market. Eager Chinese consumers seem to be particularly good at finding loopholes in corporate policies, forcing companies to improve services at the speed of light.
The entrepreneur said that there are many opportunities in China, and entrepreneurs do not need to carry out in-depth R & D innovation, which requires longer time and higher cost. This is how the government intervenes. China's investment in key areas is impressive. Clean energy, electric vehicles, batteries, aviation, robotics, genomics, space, security and so on are all ambitious goals of the "made in China 2025" policy. This policy explains China's priorities and also indicates areas where Chinese companies are likely to make large-scale acquisitions or innovate.
When China looks at a goal, as it did at the 2008 Olympics, it will work hard and plan in place. The top strategic consulting companies have never been so busy. They have started to provide consulting on leadership development, design and prototyping, analysis and implementation, so that Chinese companies can continue to innovate, and Western companies in China have the opportunity to keep up with them.
By following the example of Chinese enterprises, the west can learn more about scale-up and operation in the fast-moving market, and apply the experience of Chinese enterprises to our domestic market. China's approach may also better help us succeed in emerging economies such as Africa. China may even play a leading role in management and leadership that has long been regarded as a 'professional field' in the West.
China now has money, a well-educated and ambitious workforce, energetic and impressive companies, and the tenacity to achieve this goal. The next time someone tells you that China lacks innovation, you should advise them to take a closer look.
On my recent trip to China, I sat next to a retired French executive who had come to China for the first time. He has spent his career in France, Spain, Britain and the United States, and has worked in many of the world's top companies. What he was very interested in was that I led a large number of students from all over the world, who also came to China for the first time. I told him that they would go to where the world's leading companies are now.